Sleep Struggles
Liam was always a great sleeper, as a baby and a toddler. If he didn't fall right asleep he would talk to himself and it was quite cute to listen to.
So, you may remember a couple of incidences that happened with Liam a while ago. The first was the fire alarm went off for no reason when Liam was sleeping and it scared him badly. The second incident happened in the middle of the night, when a string from a toy he liked to sleep with, got wrapped around his finger very tightly - his finger was dark purple and he was screaming in pain. Since then he hasn't wanted to sleep with any toys.
After these two traumas it seems like bedtime just went downhill. After that he started being nervous about how dark it was in his room, scared of the curtains moving (because they were over a vent), then afraid of the closet being open, a lamp on his bookshelf, and so on and so on - he was start screaming/crying randomly at all hours of the night, being afraid of something but then would settle down. Until now, when a perfectly happy, great little sleeper has turned into a bedtime monster. It usually takes an hour to get him to stay in bed, but if he doesn't want to he screams bloody murder, cries, runs out of bed and out of his room. If you try to lock him in he bangs and kicks the door and throws things at it. Lovely, right. Of course this commotion usually terrifies Carolina who is just falling asleep next door to him and we have to calm her down. The situation escalated on vacation - when Liam wouldn't sleep in Dylan's room, even though his two cousins were in there with him. Todd and Grandma took turns sleeping with him, then Todd shared a bed with him in Anaheim as well. Now he would just really like it if either A) He didn't have to go to bed at all, or B) You would stay with him all night.
Although it seems to be slowwwly getting better (yesterday it only took a half hour of sweet talking to get him to go to bed), it's still very frustrating. We've had to stop giving him naps - which sucks for me, and really for him, because come 4 or 5 he's fairly cranky and naughty because he needed a nap. But we've found that he goes to sleep much faster at night if he hasn't napped and therefore has less crying fits once bedtime has started. No nap, plus bribes, plus basically letting him do whatever he wants at bedtime (4 potty breaks, 3 books, 2 drinks, 16 hugs, 11 kisses, etc.) has finally allowed us to get him to sleep without throwing a major fit. It's frustrating, sad, exhausting, and very confining for us in the evenings.
We'd take any advice from you who have experienced similar bedtimes, and prayers for Liam and for our sanity!
So, you may remember a couple of incidences that happened with Liam a while ago. The first was the fire alarm went off for no reason when Liam was sleeping and it scared him badly. The second incident happened in the middle of the night, when a string from a toy he liked to sleep with, got wrapped around his finger very tightly - his finger was dark purple and he was screaming in pain. Since then he hasn't wanted to sleep with any toys.
After these two traumas it seems like bedtime just went downhill. After that he started being nervous about how dark it was in his room, scared of the curtains moving (because they were over a vent), then afraid of the closet being open, a lamp on his bookshelf, and so on and so on - he was start screaming/crying randomly at all hours of the night, being afraid of something but then would settle down. Until now, when a perfectly happy, great little sleeper has turned into a bedtime monster. It usually takes an hour to get him to stay in bed, but if he doesn't want to he screams bloody murder, cries, runs out of bed and out of his room. If you try to lock him in he bangs and kicks the door and throws things at it. Lovely, right. Of course this commotion usually terrifies Carolina who is just falling asleep next door to him and we have to calm her down. The situation escalated on vacation - when Liam wouldn't sleep in Dylan's room, even though his two cousins were in there with him. Todd and Grandma took turns sleeping with him, then Todd shared a bed with him in Anaheim as well. Now he would just really like it if either A) He didn't have to go to bed at all, or B) You would stay with him all night.
Although it seems to be slowwwly getting better (yesterday it only took a half hour of sweet talking to get him to go to bed), it's still very frustrating. We've had to stop giving him naps - which sucks for me, and really for him, because come 4 or 5 he's fairly cranky and naughty because he needed a nap. But we've found that he goes to sleep much faster at night if he hasn't napped and therefore has less crying fits once bedtime has started. No nap, plus bribes, plus basically letting him do whatever he wants at bedtime (4 potty breaks, 3 books, 2 drinks, 16 hugs, 11 kisses, etc.) has finally allowed us to get him to sleep without throwing a major fit. It's frustrating, sad, exhausting, and very confining for us in the evenings.
We'd take any advice from you who have experienced similar bedtimes, and prayers for Liam and for our sanity!
Try doing that for 10 years. Kyle was the same way but even as a baby. I would have to sit in his room with my hand on him till he fell asleep then try to sneek out before he woke up and noticed I was gone. Do you have a sound machine in his room. That helps sometimes. Also lots of blankets can make them feel snuggled or less blankets to feel more free. The worse thing is to let him do what he wants. It make it worse and harder to break.We also tryed that and it took years of no sleep for me to get through it. comfort was kyles thing. Him in a room by himself open to everything. We put a canopy over his bed he can pulll around his bed to feel safe. The do have bed tents that might work and I know they have Cars theme ones. Worth a try. Sorry that you have to deal with that.
ReplyDeleteDyl didn't nap regularly after he was probably 2 1/2 yrs. old. He would crash somedays, but mostly he was done when he was 3. Maybe Liam just doesn't need naps anymore.
ReplyDelete"This to shall pass", that's what me mom says. These stages seem long and painful, but they are short in the whole scheme of things. He won't do this forever.
We will pray for him and that he has Jesus' peace. It's the only thing that works. (The peace that passes all understanding). If he can experience that peace as a child, he'll be better for it the rest of his life. I need that peace very often.
Love you Liam.
our rule for Claire (bedtime/nap), she can play, read, go to the bathroom, etc. as long as she is quiet and stays upstairs (and doesn't wake up Kate). she wants us to stay in her room- who knows why- but we never do! she sometimes is up there for an hour just messing around. I've noticed if she has had a nap but a busy day she goes to sleep within a half hour, but if she takes a long nap or didn't do much that day she could be up there for 1-2 hrs. but as long as she doesn't come downstairs we're ok! maybe try giving him that freedom? I'm guessing once he is back on school schedule his bedtime schedule will change too and be more routine. The girls both have scentsy buddies wwhich smell, which dawsha told me smell can help with fear- she was going to get a room spray from me and make a "monster" tag and call it monster spray so anytime the boys got scared and had night tremors she would spray that to make the monters go away. Claire often falls asleep with her nightstand lamp on too.Hang in there! like the country song says, "it won't be like this for long...."
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